Teacher Strangles Former Student, Leaves Her for De-ad in the Woods

Ashley Reeves was a high school junior who lived in Millstadt, Illinois, with her parents and her younger sister Casey. The 17-year-old did well in school, had many friends, and had a boyfriend named Jeremy who her parents adored. Ashley was eagerly awaiting graduation. Little did she know that just a year before she was set to walk across the stage, Ashley would experience the unthinkable and live to tell her tale.

Was Ashley Meeting Someone?

On Thursday, April 27, 2006, Ashley told her parents she was going to a job interview in Fairview Heights, a city approximately 20 minutes away from Millstadt. Ashley told her parents she was going to play basketball after the interview and would be home by her 10 pm curfew.

Ashley packed a change of clothes and left for the interview at 3:30 pm in Jeremy’s car, which she had borrowed for the day.

By 10:30 pm, curfew had come and gone and yet, there was no sign of Ashley. Her mother, Michelle, asked her youngest daughter Casey if she had spoken to Ashley, but Casey said she hadn’t heard from her sister all day.

Michelle and Casey called Ashley several times and left her multiple text messages but she never responded, which was unlike her.

Following her gut instinct that something had gone terribly wrong, Michelle called St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office.

At first, officers were confident Ashley was out with her friends and had simply lost track of time, but eight hours into the investigation, they found Jeremy’s car abandoned in Laderman Park, Belleville, 15 minutes away from Ashley’s home.

Inside the car, detectives found Ashley’s bag which contained the clothes she would have worn had she gone to play basketball.

Detectives quickly realized this wasn’t a typical case of a rebellious teen defying her parents’ strict curfew, this was a missing persons investigation and time was of the essence.

Detectives brought Jeremy in for questioning since he was Ashley’s boyfriend and it was his car she had been driving, but they quickly realized he was not involved in her disappearance.

Jeremy told detectives he had let Ashley borrow his car to go to a job interview followed by a game of basketball.

Detectives questioned why Ashley would go play basketball at a park so far away from her home when there was one right in her own neighborhood.

Unless she was meeting someone.

“The Teacher”

While detectives inched closer in the search for Ashley, Michelle called the phone company; since Ashley was only 17, her phone was in her mother’s name and she was able to get access to her phone records detailing all of her incoming and outgoing calls.

Michelle went through the records and realized there were several calls from one specific number. Michelle called the number and connected with 26-year-old Samson Shelton.

Michelle asked Samson if he had seen or heard from Ashley. He said no and before she could question why he was in communication with her teenage daughter, he abruptly hung up the phone.

Fortunately, Ashley kept her friends updated on her private life, and what they told detectives sent chills down Michelle’s spine.

According to Ashley’s friends, she was romantically involved with an older man. The two would often meet to play basketball together and Ashley had plans to meet him the very day she went missing.

That man was Samson Shelton.

Samson was a driver’s ED teacher and gym coach at a nearby high school. He was also a pro wrestler on the side. Unsurprisingly, his nickname was, “The teacher.”

Some of Samson’s female students referred to him as the “cute” teacher, others thought he was strange and a bit full of himself.

Detectives discovered that Samson was Ashley’s teacher in 2001 when she was in the seventh grade. They had reconnected in February 2006, two months before she went missing.

They often met in Belleville where Samson lived with his mother and grandmother — right near Laderman Park where detectives found Jeremy’s abandoned vehicle.

30 Hours in the Cold

It was now Friday, April 28 and Ashley had been missing for an entire night. Michelle was overcome with grief as harrowing thoughts crossed her mind: Was Ashley cold? Was she hurt? Was she suffering?

Detectives went to the high school where Samson worked and took him in for questioning. Almost immediately, they knew he was involved in Ashley’s disappearance.

At first, Samson maintained a cool and calm demeanor, he was friendly, polite, and even cooperative with the investigation. However, as detectives uncovered more and more of his lies, the truth began to spill out of his own mouth.

When questioned about his relationship with Ashley, Samson said the two were simply friends who would occasionally meet to play basketball.

Samson insisted his relationship with Ashley was strictly platonic but when confronted with statements from Ashley’s friends that their relationship was romantic and sexual in nature, he changed his story in a desperate attempt to victimize himself.

Samson told detectives Ashley had become infatuated with him. He painted the picture of an obsessed teen with a crush who called him at all hours of the day and night. Samson said he had been avoiding Ashley for days, hoping she would just leave him alone.

Several hours into the interrogation, Samson admitted that not only did he have sex with his former student, but he was with Ashley on April 27, the day she went missing.

According to Samson, he was driving when he got into an argument with Ashley. He wanted to end the relationship but Ashley got upset and began screaming at him. He pulled over, unbuckled Ashley’s seatbelt, and told her to get out of the car. When she refused, he pulled her out and left her on the side of the road.

Samson insisted Ashley was still alive when he last saw her, that there was no way he would have harmed her because he had a ‘very weak stomach.’

Samson said he cared for Ashley and was just as concerned for her well-being as her family, but would someone who cared for another leave them stranded on the side of the road in the dark?

Phone records showed Samson never even tried to call Ashley afterward to see if she was safe. Instead, he went to a local country bar and danced the night away.

Samson’s story had changed so many times that detectives did not believe a word he said. They pleaded for him to tell the truth; Ashley had now been missing for nearly 30 hours and time was running out.

A Miraculous Recovery

It was only when detectives mentioned the disappointment Samson’s grandmother would feel towards his actions that he began to cry.

12 hours into the interrogation, Samson described in cold and disturbing detail exactly what he had done to Ashley and where he had left her to die.

According to Samson’s videotaped confession, he didn’t just pull Ashley out of his vehicle and leave her on the side of the road. The part-time pro wrestler put the teen in a chokehold and dragged her out of his car. He then heard a loud pop and Ashley went limp.

Realizing he had snapped her neck, Samson panicked and dragged her into the woods where he choked her with his bare hands. When he realized Ashley was still breathing, he choked her again with his belt.

Using his foot for leverage, Samson put the belt around Ashley’s neck and pulled as hard as he could until the belt snapped.

After the belt broke, Samson choked Ashley a third and final time with his hands before taking off and leaving her to die on the cold hard ground deep in the woods.

Following his confession, Samson agreed to lead detectives to Ashley’s body in Citizens Park, a 45-acre park in Belleville located only 12 minutes away from Ashley’s home.

However, it had rained throughout the night and once they arrived at the park, Samson was unable to remember exactly where he had left Ashley.

Armed with flashlights, detectives frantically searched the woods for thirty minutes. As they began to question whether it was all a ruse by Samson, they finally saw Ashley.

She was lying on her back, her hands were up to her chest. Her tongue was sticking out of her mouth and hundreds of insect bites covered her body.

As the disappointment of being unable to save Ashley in time washed over detectives, her hands suddenly moved. Then, her chest began to rise.

Ashley was alive.

Dramatic footage of Ashley’s rescue. Trigger warning. Source: YouTube.

Miraculously, after being strangled nearly to death and left in the cold for over thirty hours, Ashley had survived.

EMTs rushed to the scene and transported her to the local hospital where she was put into an induced coma.

Detectives knew the importance of the first 48 hours and wasted no time in the search for the missing teen. Had they not been able to convince Samson to lead them to her, it is highly unlikely Ashley would have been found in time.

He Was Placed on House Arrest

Samson was arrested and charged with first-degree attempted murder. As he was taken into custody, Samson requested a private bathroom. He said he suffered from a urinary stress disorder and would be ‘miserable’ if he was forced to urinate in front of others. His request was promptly denied.

Samson proved to be a true narcissist who showed no empathy and no remorse for his actions. Despite his detailed confession and the fact he led detectives to Ashley, he pleaded not guilty and has never apologized to her.

Shockingly, Samson was released on bail and placed on house arrest; a man who had snapped a teen’s neck, strangled her three times, and left her for dead deep in the woods was allowed to live in the comfort of his own home for an entire year as he awaited trial.

Just before Samson was to face charges of attempted murder in court, his mother Susan phoned the police stating he had attempted to commit suicide by ingesting a concoction of various prescription pills and alcohol.

When deputies and emergency responders arrived at Samson’s home, they found him seemingly unconscious with the words, ‘do not resuscitate’ written on his chest.

As EMTs attempted to revive Samson, he suddenly became alert and began attacking them with punches. He was then transported to the local hospital where he allegedly made racial slurs toward a nurse and kicked her in the face.

The judge presiding over Ashley’s case questioned Samson’s mental state, but prosecutors believed his suicide attempt was just a way for him to gain empathy from potential jurors.

A month later, a psychiatrist determined Samson was mentally competent to stand trial but Ashley’s family decided they did not want her to suffer through a retelling of the horrifying attack she had suffered on April 27 and signed off on a plea deal.

Samson accepted the plea deal and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. According to the Illinois Department of Corrections, his projected parole date is April 22, 2024.

“Just Keep Fighting”

As for Ashley, she made an incredible recovery. Although she was unable to remember the day Samson attempted to take her life, Ashley refused to let his hateful actions prevent her from fulfilling her dreams. Only a few months after the attack, the incredibly strong and courageous teen had relearned how to talk, eat and drink. A year later, she graduated from high school and began volunteering at a violence prevention center.

Today, Ashley is 32 and has two children.

“I’m a fighter and I just keep wanting to push myself harder and harder. Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up on yourself. Just keep fighting.” — Ashley Reeves